


Habits Of My Heart

by wistfullywishing



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Flirting, Bologna, Chinguline (EXO), Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, M/M, Partners in Crime, Strangers to Lovers, baekhyun attempts to sneakity sneak sneak but sucks at it, baekhyun is like no, convenience store trips, i did research on lunch meat, jongdae sucks at flirting, kimbros - Freeform, so jongdae does the sneakity sneak for him, so then jongdae is like I'm creeping in your heart babe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-21 05:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12450888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wistfullywishing/pseuds/wistfullywishing
Summary: Jongdae catches Baekhyun trying to slash his cheating ex's tires and helps him out by telling him to put bologna on the body instead and being his alibi when the campus police come for him.





	Habits Of My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I had some troubles w this fic but after the love & support of my beta, I have come to quite like how this turned out hehe
> 
> infinite thanks to both my wonderful beta who cheered me on through life's hardships & the mods who were so sweet, kind & understanding during this fest <3
> 
> also thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my writing; it means a lot to me <3

Chanyeol always has the worst ideas. Only, it’s too bad that Baekhyun never remembers this until after he follows his friend’s advice.

\---

“Slash his tires,” Chanyeol calls out from the living room, struggling to make his lanky body fit on Baekhyun’s small couch. Kyungsoo nods without even looking up from his books. He’s sitting on the carpet flooring of Baekhyun’s apartment, his textbooks scattered on the coffee table in heavy stacks in between crumpled foil wrappers and napkins. Kyungsoo takes another quick sip of coffee and resumes writing, his blocky penmanship filling up a page in no time at all. Baekhyun briefly wonders if Kyungsoo ever sleeps before turning his attention back to Chanyeol.

“What do you mean?” he asks before walking over to his friends from the kitchen, hugging three bottles to his chest. He passes one of the beers to Chanyeol and keeps one for himself, and he gives the bottled water to Kyungsoo, who takes it gratefully. Baekhyun plops down on the carpet next to Kyungsoo, peering at his notebook over his shoulder. “Is that for literature class?”

“Creative writing,” grumbles Kyungsoo. Before he can elaborate any further, Chanyeol interrupts by throwing a couch pillow in their direction. “Hey, I thought we were giving all the class stuff a break to talk about getting revenge on Baekhyun’s ex!”

“Just because you’re going to have to repeat a semester at the rate you’re going doesn’t mean all of us want to flunk out of college,” Kyungsoo mutters under his breath.

“Why are you more excited about this than I am?” Baekhyun turns around to ask, trying to pull off an amused expression so Chanyeol doesn’t start fussing over his broken heart. Though, if he’s being honest with himself, it’s nice to be mothered by his friends when he really needs it even though he’s the oldest out of them.

“Because the jerk deserves it, obviously,” Chanyeol frowns. “For cheating and all. And you’re our best friend, Baekhyunnie! We have to protect you!” Chanyeol rolls over to emphasize his words with an exaggerated punch to the air and nearly rolls off the couch straight into Kyungsoo.

“Yah, stop that, you overgrown idiot! You nearly ruined my notes!”

“Right now is not the time to be taking notes! We have a more important situation at hand!”

As Baekhyun watches his two best friends bicker with a fond smile tugging at his lips for the first time in a while, he thanks his lucky stars that he’ll always have such caring and supportive people by his side.

Afterwards, he considers actually carrying out Chanyeol’s suggestion. As a general rule, most of the thoughts that come out of Chanyeol’s mouth are questionable, but his good for nothing, cheating liar of an ex-boyfriend did treasure his car very much.

“Are you feeling okay?” Kyungsoo asks softly, interrupting Baekhyun’s thoughts. His eyes are round and full of concern.

Baekhyun lets his head lean on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Yeah, I think I will be. Just give it some time.”

\---

Tracking down his ex’s car is the easy part. Baekhyun still has the asshole’s class schedule memorized, and his parking spot is painfully predictable (always as close as possible to whatever building his lecture is being held in, because why have to walk more than necessary). Baekhyun chooses the slot of time for one of his ex’s evening classes since there’s less chance of being caught and reported to the campus police, and he thinks it’s going to be an easy in and then out.

What he fails to consider is Chanyeol’s stupidity.

Twenty minutes later, Baekhyun’s bent over  in a mostly empty lot, his lower back aching from crouching so long in one position, and wonders if Chanyeol actually knew the first thing about tire slashing when he promised how easy the process was. He hasn’t even managed to make one decent cut in the thick rubber, as it turns out slashing a tire is fairly difficult to pull off both inconspicuously and quickly. The whole process might be easier if he could actually see, but of course he hadn’t wanted to bring a flashlight for fear of drawing unnecessary attention to himself and dusk had fallen much faster than he’d thought it would. Baekhyun briefly considers returning in the early morning when his visibility might be better, but then he remembers that the car won’t be parked here forever and that if he tracked it down to his ex’s apartment it would be all too simple to pinpoint the blame on him.

Baekhyun hisses under his breath in frustration. _I am never listening to Chanyeol ever again,_ he thinks. He should’ve made Chanyeol act as lookout. Then, at least both of their valuable free time would be getting wasted instead of his alone.

His window of opportunity is rapidly dwindling, and nothing seems to be working, not brute force or gentle sawing motions. Puncturing the tire would likely do the job, but then the air would let out too slowly and alert the owner of the car to the issue before the damage has the time to be adequately done.

Also, he might be mildly afraid of accidentally cutting himself with Kyungsoo’s pocket knife if he makes any sudden, fast movements. He’s not afraid to admit it.

Out of other options, Baekhyun stares at the knife and wills it to fulfill its purpose. He tries again, and his heart sinks.

Still barely a dent. He has to hand it to his ex: he really knows how to choose his tires. The tough skins are just too impossible to penetrate with a thin blade (or maybe he’s weak, but Baekhyun prefers to think that the tires are extra-reinforced).

He actually groans out loud. Baekhyun’s too busy contemplating the next best course of action that he doesn’t hear the footsteps coming up behind him until it’s too late.

“Fucking Chanyeol,” Baekhyun mutters in the most passive-aggressive way possible because he can. He’s about five seconds away from tearing out his hair.

"You're fucking Chanyeol?" a voice behind him asks curiously and Baekhyun nearly stabs himself as he shoots up to his feet and spins around to face the source.

A boy approximately the same height as him, with a black stud in one ear and mahogany bangs peeking out from under a snapback cap (worn backwards, of course; Baekhyun internally rolls his eyes) is standing about two feet away, wearing a backpack on one shoulder and smirking. “What are you doing there?”

“Checking my tires,” Baekhyun lies as smoothly as his ability allows, trying to hide the sharp blade behind his back without sweating. The boy is kind of hot. “And I would never hook up with Chanyeol, that’s gross.”

The boy tilts his head, looking both amused and genuinely interested in what Baekhyun has to say. The motion reveals sharp cheekbones to die for, the dim lighting from the nearest lamppost highlighting the boy’s flawless facial structure (scratch that, really hot). “Is Chanyeol an ex-boyfriend?”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “Best friend,” he corrects. He’s not particularly thrilled to be giving out personal information to a stranger, but if it distracts him from thinking about what Baekhyun was trying to do, he’ll gladly take the alternative.

The boy’s smirk only grows wider. _Why is he so attractive?_ “Then who’s tires are you trying to slash? I saw the knife, you know.”

 _Fuck._ Baekhyun’s heart races, threatening to escape through his ribs. He stares, searching his brain for a reasonable excuse, and comes up short. He settles for the truth. “He cheated on me,” he blurts, forgetting to clarify exactly who did the cheating.

Cheekbones Boy winces, but steps closer nonetheless. “His loss. Can’t imagine why, a cute thing like you.”

For some reason, it’s this statement that makes it a little bit easier to breathe. “Stop that,” Baekhyun snaps. “I’m not a plaything.” The words hit a sensitive spot. The shock, sadness, and anger at being tossed around and wrapped in lies by his ex resurfaces, and Baekhyun feels a sudden ache in his chest and has to turn away to hide his face in the shadows before he can start crying over the matter all over again.

The smug look on Cheekbones Boy’s face drops immediately, replaced with a look of regret at having misspoken. He reaches out to grab Baekhyun’s arm. “No- wait. I’m- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Ugh, I’m so bad at this. It’s just, I’ve seen you around campus sometimes with those two other guys - the short one and the tall one? One of them’s Park Chanyeol, right? He’s in my organic chem class. I know you guys aren’t really together.” He has to pause to lick his dry lips, eyes rapidly widening in fear as he rambles on.

“Anyway- what I meant to say is- you’re, you’re always so happy and smiling and it’s really cute- no please don’t cry I’m so sorry oh my god why am I stupid- you seem like a really nice person and you’re so understanding towards everyone, I- I don’t know why anyone would cheat on someone like you. I didn’t mean to be a jerk, please forgive me.” His free hand waves animatedly in the air as he speaks, and when he’s done his fingers clench into a fist around thin air before he seems to realize what he’s doing and withdraws his hand, nervously gauging Baekhyun’s reaction.

Surprisingly, Cheekbones’ impromptu speech makes Baekhyun feel better than most of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s efforts in the past week combined. Maybe it’s the fact that a stranger can see and admire all of the qualities that Baekhyun tries so hard to embody in his character - and appreciate him better for it whereas his previous boyfriend couldn’t. He looks up to meet Cheekbones’ gaze, eyes shining with unshed tears. “You think so?”

Cheekbones smiles tentatively. “I really do. Hey, did you know that bologna strips the paint off cars?”

“That really works?” Baekhyun always assumed it was a myth.

“Yeah, come with me.” Cheekbones gently tugs on Baekhyun’s bicep, and Baekhyun lets himself be led towards another car on the opposite side of the lot.

As he goes, he remembers something that almost makes him dig his heels into the ground and stop walking. “Wait, I don’t even know what your name is.”

“It’s Jongdae,” Cheekbones calls trustingly over his shoulder and unlocks his car. “What’s yours?”

Baekhyun doesn’t even think to be the slightest bit wary of Jongdae’s motives as he gets in the passenger's side seat without hesitation. “Baekhyun.”

\---

“Are you sure this will work?” Baekhyun says in a hushed breath at the entrance of the convenience store not too far from campus. Illuminated by the bright lights of the place and surrounded by signs on the walls reading SNACKS and DRINKS, Baekhyun suddenly feels very silly. His nerves are eased somewhat when Jongdae sends a lopsided grin his way.

“It will. The preservatives in the bologna will react with the paint overnight and cause it to be stripped from the car. Trust me, I’m a chemical engineering major, so I know what I’m talking about.” Jongdae says easily. “Okay now, here’s the plan…”

Baekhyun catches Jongdae’s directions for him to grab the bologna and the beer, and then he hardly listens as Jongdae lists the rest of the items for him to get. A slow excitement is already catching up to him, making him restless. “Alright, I’ll meet you at the register.”

After Baekhyun grabs the lunch meat and a six-pack of beer, he can’t recall what else he was supposed to get, so he bounces through the aisles in an attempt to jog his memory, humming under his breath. When he reaches the ice cream, he spies an eye-catching tub of soft orange and swings open the fridge door to reach for it, thinking Jongdae might like Orange Sherbet.

When he goes to check out, Jongdae isn’t there yet. There’s no one else in line, so Baekhyun steps forward and places his items on the counter. The cashier squints suspiciously at Baekhyun. “Why do you have just bologna, ice cream and beer? Are you even old enough to drink?”

“Well-” the cashier’s name tag reads _Luhan_ , “- Luhan, as a matter of fact-” Baekhyun honestly can’t think of a good enough answer that would justify his random combination of items. “I am, okay? Is there going to be a problem?” he finishes dully, not in the mood for trouble. Baekhyun is tired of being mistaken for younger than he really is.

Luhan looks unimpressed. “I think I’m going to have to card you.”

Baekhyun’s about to panic - not only does he not have his ID with him, he really doesn’t want his name connected to a package of bologna in any way, shape or form in case the campus police actually does come for him, even if the word of a convenience store worker is the only evidence they’ll have - when Jongdae appears beside him and saves the day.

“We’re having a midnight picnic,” he announces, shoving Baekhyun to the side and unloading a diverse assortment of items from his arms and onto the countertop next to Baekhyun’s, including a loaf of bread, a package of sliced cheese, several packs of ham and turkey and roast beef, a two liter bottle of soda, and a frozen pizza. “He was in charge of getting those and I was in charge of getting these to, like, save time. Also because he’s too stupid to remember anything,” Jongdae says pleasantly to Luhan’s doubtful expression. At Baekhyun’s annoyed glare, he laughs softly. _Cute._

“I’m just kidding, babe.” Baekhyun doesn’t question the nickname, though it warms him his whole body. He stretches his neck a little and sees over Jongdae’s shoulder that he also snagged chips, pretzels, Skittles, a toothbrush, and condoms. After a moment’s thought, Jongdae slides his campus ID over the counter, too.

Luhan eyes the condoms and toothbrush and looks up, eyes darting between Baekhyun and Jongdae. He seems to realize something. Jongdae’s expression looks like he dares Luhan to comment. His apprehension rising, Baekhyun forces a smile that he hopes comes out more casual than creepy and winds an arm around Jongdae’s waist, pulling him close. Pretending seems to come easily to Jongdae because he leans into Baekhyun’s touch without hesitation.

“Alright,” Luhan finally says, hand reaching to pass Jongdae’s ID back to him before scanning their items and placing them in several plastic bags. After a moment, he mumbles without looking up, “You guys are really cute together.”

“Thanks,” Jongdae smiles winningly at the cashier as he passes the lightest bag to Baekhyun and loops his arm through the other two. On their way out, Jongdae tangles his fingers with Baekhyun and waves goodbye to Luhan with his free hand.

\---

Jongdae’s smile fades as soon as they exit the convenience store, and Baekhyun receives an elbow to the stomach. “You should have stuck to the plan, idiot. Now what am I going to do with all of this extra food?”

“Ow!” Baekhyun grumbles, rubbing his side. “It’s not my fault you made everything more complicated by making a whole list of things to get.” Baekhyun peeks into the plastic bag in his arms, feeling somewhat bad that Jongdae had to spend more money than necessary. He’ll pay Jongdae back later. “Why did you get condoms?”

A lovely shade of pink appears on the tops of Jongdae’s high cheeks and he stops in his tracks, avoiding eye contact as he uselessly pretends to sift through the items in his own bags. “Um. So he’d think, like- I mean. I don’t actually need them. Because I’m single.”

“Oh.” Then Baekhyun catches onto Jongdae’s intended meaning directed at Luhan and he feels his own cheeks heating up, too. “ _Oh_.”

“I’m sorry, I know I should have asked if you were okay with that first before I implied anything of the sort-”

“No, that’s okay,” Baekhyun interrupts quickly. “Now I have an alibi. We’re boyfriends, right? Midnight picnic. That’s what you were thinking of, weren’t you?”

Jongdae nods slowly, bottom lip caught between his teeth like he’s not sure if Baekhyun is going to hit him for planning ahead. Privately, Baekhyun is flattered that someone would go to so much trouble to save his ass. He flashes an easy grin at the other boy. “ _See,_ you’re so smart. What are you worrying for? Let’s go plant that bologna!” He starts off into a dash across the parking lot, his bangs falling into his eyes and jacket billowing behind him. He doesn’t need to look to see if Jongdae is following; as he’d run off, he caught a glimpse of the other boy’s face breaking into a smile as well.

Jongdae has a really cute smile.

\---

It’s late evening by the time they arrive at where Baekhyun’s ex lives, because of course his car wouldn’t still be at the campus after their bologna run. His ex’s apartment complex is just as ugly as Baekhyun remembers. Maybe even more so in the cover of darkness than when it’s daytime. The building juts up tall and proud, and the shadows look like they’re hiding dark secrets. The whole scene is shifty. _Just like his ex._

Jongdae’s car is parked inconspicuously at a spot at the very edge of the lot, as far as possible as the entrance to the building. On the other side of the lot, Baekhyun spies his ex’s red Honda Accord. When Baekhyun flicks his gaze up to the main entrance, he suddenly remembers the drawback to his and Jongdae’s plan.

“Wait,” he says. “I can’t. The security cameras. He’ll recognize me and then I’ll get into trouble with the campus police.”

“I understand,” Jongdae says, and Baekhyun thinks that he’s going to turn the car around and drive Baekhyun home. Instead, he leans over to pluck the lunch meat out of Baekhyun’s hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll do it.”

Jongdae’s got a hand on the car door when Baekhyun’s senses catch up to him. “Wait a minute!” he exclaims in a panic, hands flying to stop Jongdae from moving. “I can’t let you get into trouble because of me.”

Jongdae scoffs. “Who said anything about getting in trouble? Clearly you’ve never seen me sneak around. I’m a master at pranks.”

“Except this isn’t exactly a prank,” Baekhyun points out. “This is doing actual bodily harm to a car. This is like… vandalism.”

“It’ll be fine,” Jongdae says, removing Baekhyun’s fingers from his wrist. “He cheated, remember?” Then he’s pushing open the car door before Baekhyun can argue further. Outside in the crisp night air, Jongdae adjusts his black snapback to cover his telltale hair, then creeps over to the car across the lot that Baekhyun had pointed out earlier.

True to his word, Jongdae is a master at sneaking around. Baekhyun no longer feels the need to beat himself up about letting Jongdae catch him off-guard earlier; watching Jongdae move is like watching the best heist film of the year. Jongdae’s quick about it, neatly arranging several rows of bologna slices on the hood of the target car and several more on the lid of the trunk and very top of the vehicle before he sneaks back, tossing the empty bologna package in the nearest trash can and looking all too pleased with himself.

“There,” he says to Baekhyun as he climbs back into the driver's seat and lets the car door slam shut. “Now they’ll just think it was a random hoodlum.” He turns towards Baekhyun expectantly, one eyebrow arched up.

Baekhyun doesn’t even know what to say. “I don't even know what to say.”

Jongdae grins. “Well, for starters, a _thank you_ would be nice.”

Baekhyun makes a mental note to never cross someone as obviously devious as Jongdae. “Thank you,” he says obligingly.

Jongdae starts his engine and changes the gear from park to reverse. “You’re very welcome. Okay, now where do you live?”

Baekhyun tells him as Jongdae is driving out of the parking lot. Jongdae patiently waits until he’s finished explaining before telling him, “That’s really fucking far.” Before Baekhyun’s brain can jump to conclusions, he continues, “It’s not actually that far. Normally I wouldn’t mind driving over, but I’m almost out of gas. Like really.”

Baekhyun glances at the dashboard. Jongdae’s right; the indicator is halfway between the last marker and the base of the display. “I can walk back,” he offers.

“Are you stupid?” Jongdae talks as he drives. “You’re going to get mugged or something, and then I’ll have a guilty conscience for letting you die.”

It seems rather rude of Jongdae to assume that Baekhyun is incapable of defending himself just because he might look harmless, but Baekhyun doesn’t say so. “Well, why didn’t you get gas when we were at the store?”

“I _forgot_ , okay,” Jongdae grumbles. “Too busy worrying about my already broke ass buying even more stuff I don’t need.”

Baekhyun opens his mouth to either protest that he never asked for Jongdae’s help, or to apologize and thank him again, but Jongdae cuts him off. “I guess you can stay with me for one night. I live really close to the store, so I can just get gas tomorrow morning before dropping you home.”

This seems like _too much_ , and Baekhyun is about to say so, but Jongdae takes his eyes off the road for just a split-second to glance at Baekhyun. “I really don’t mind,” he reassures.

Baekhyun realizes that he’s not entirely opposed to the idea either.

\---

Jongdae’s apartment is ridiculously messy. So messy that Baekhyun almost doesn’t want to step foot inside lest he get lost in all of the chaotic clutter. So messy that he almost turns around to walk home after all. But then again, he’s in no position to be picky.

“Sorry,” Jongdae apologizes sheepishly as he leads the way in, toeing off his sneakers and then bending to pick up a crumpled sweatshirt off of the floor. Baekhyun pretends not to notice when he tosses it onto the arm of the couch that’s already buried under various jackets and t-shirts.

“It’s alright,” he says warmly, removing his own shoes. “Thank you again for letting me stay the night. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Jongdae says, dropping his plastic shopping bags on the coffee table and padding into the kitchen. Baekhyun takes the opportunity his momentary absence allows to let his eyes roam the walls; there’s a clock, a few action movie posters, and a canvas print of a piece of modern artwork that Baekhyun thinks even he could have produced without hardship. Looking around his apartment makes Baekhyun realize that other than knowing Jongdae’s major, he doesn’t know the other boy at all. The thought is strange when he feels like he’s got a good enough understanding of Jongdae’s personality that they could have been friends for months.

Jongdae returns a few moments later with plates, utensils, and drinking glasses. “So, food? I certainly can’t eat all of this by myself. We should make sandwiches.”

“Sounds good,” Baekhyun smiles, momentarily forgetting his doubts, and reaches to help unload the shopping bags.

He tries to ignore the way that his heart flutters later when he complains about still being hungry after finishing his first sandwich, and Jongdae mindlessly holds his own sandwich in front of Baekhyun’s face for him to take a bite rather than telling Baekhyun to build another one (they still have tons of uneaten ingredients, after all). Baekhyun tells himself that it’s only because Jongdae’s too distracted by the video game they’re playing to pay attention to his actions.

\---

“What movie do you want to watch,” Jongdae asks, shoving a handful of chips in his mouth and passing the TV remote to Baekhyun.

“I don’t care, you choose,” Baekhyun says, talking around a mouthful of food. Jongdae makes a face at his lack of manners and tosses an unopened package of napkins at him, which smacks him in the forehead. Baekhyun narrows his eyes in Jongdae’s direction and steals a chip off of Jongdae’s plate, hand moving so fast that the other doesn’t have time to stop him.

“Hey, hey. Stop that,” Jongdae whines, pulling his plate to his lap and shielding it uselessly with his arm. “Just for that, I’m choosing a horror movie.”

Baekhyun grins wickedly, taking a large swig of his beer before pulling a couch pillow to him and making himself comfortable on the floor in front of the television. “What if I’m not scared of them?”

“I don’t believe you,” Jongdae accuses, narrowing his eyes as he leans back against the couch. “I bet you’ll already be trying to hold my hand less than thirty minutes in. Loser has to sleep on the floor.”

“You’re on,” says Baekhyun easily, confident in his ability to hold his own. He tries to ignore how his heart beats a little bit faster at the thought that Jongdae would have given up his own bed for him and downs the rest of his beer.

He’s so busy thinking about what it might be like to share a bed with Jongdae and sleep soundly with the other’s arms around him that he doesn’t realize how much beer he’s ingested until his senses start getting fuzzy.

\---

“Seriously?”

Jongdae’s voice breaks Baekhyun concentration as he attempts to sneak his hand into Jongdae’s palm. His fingers are just lying there, looking much too inviting, and Baekhyun had really _really_ wanted to see how his hand would fit in Jongdae’s (probably perfectly, he bets). Baekhyun looks up guiltily, pulling his own hand away. “What?”

Jongdae frowns at him like he’s trying to gauge something, the beginnings of a curious spark in his eyes. “Are you drunk already?”

“No?” Baekhyun answers. He’s only had three beers at the most. Maybe four. _It’s not enough to be drunk yet_ , he thinks.

“Are you sure?” Jongdae asks slowly, drawing out the question in an annoying way that kind of makes Baekhyun want to punch him in the face. When Baekhyun nods much too quickly, he smirks and makes a motion towards the TV screen. “Because it’s only been-” he pauses to make a big show of checking his watch, swinging his wrist up in front of his face, “- twenty-three minutes since the movie started. Hardly anyone’s died yet.”

Baekhyun feels his brows wrinkle as he tries to make sense of why Jongdae would possibly be telling him this information. “So?”

“Sooo,” Jongdae’s smirk only grows, and now Baekhyun kind of wants to kiss it off his face. “I win the bet and you have to sleep on the floor.”

Baekhyun freezes. “Wait-”

“Yes,” says Jongdae, the corner of his mouth twitching in the same way that Kyungsoo’s does when he’s trying not to laugh.

“- I wasn’t trying to hold your hand! I just wanted to see whose fingers are longer,” Baekhyun explains hastily. Jongdae’s eyebrow lifts so much that it disappears under his long bangs. “Really! Don't laugh at me! I’m a dedicated student of science; measurements are important.”

“You can admit that you’re scared, Baekhyun.”

“I’m not scared!”

“You’re so close to me that you’re about to be sitting in my lap, stupid. Don’t think I’m not aware that twenty-three minutes ago, you were sitting, like, five feet away.”

Before Baekhyun can think of a reasonable explanation as to why he must stay as close to Jongdae as possible (he’s considering the argument that people should share body heat like penguins), a scream erupts from the television and Baekhyun _shrieks_ , making a grab for Jongdae’s arm and pressing his entire body close to the other boy.

And then he promptly regrets it when Jongdae starts laughing so hard that his whole body shakes. The longer Jongdae laughs, the sillier Baekhyun feels. Most of Baekhyun’s fear melts away as he curses whoever thought of planting so many jump scares in this movie and reluctantly peels himself away from Jongdae.

He’s stopped, however, by Jongdae’s arm around his waist pulling him close again. “You’re so funny, Baekhyun. If you wanted to snuggle, all you had to do was ask,” Jongdae teases with a Cheshire Cat grin, and Baekhyun punches his arm, but the amusement in Jongdae’s expression is what makes him lean his head on Jongdae’s shoulder for the rest of the movie anyway. Subconsciously, he settles into the easy sort of familiarity that Jongdae’s mere presence brings - the sort of familiarity that he normally only feels when he’s around Chanyeol and Kyungsoo - as he motions for the other boy to pass him the tub of Orange Sherbet ice cream.

It’s not until Jongdae asks him to share the ice cream and Baekhyun holds a spoonful of the dessert up to Jongdae’s lips instead of passing him the tub and another spoon, the action prompting a look of surprise from Jongdae, that Baekhyun realizes he may be more drunk that he thought.

It doesn’t stop him from drinking more to calm his nerves, though. Baekhyun thinks of how Jongdae tentatively accepted the spoonful of ice cream the next time he takes a bite from the same spoon, and he both warms and colors a bit at how sharing a spoon is kind of like sharing an indirect kiss. Getting so drunk probably isn’t the smartest idea, but Baekhyun is too sober for this - and there’s something about Jongdae’s cheeky nature that makes his heart beat a little bit too fast for his liking.

\---

In the morning, Baekhyun’s awakened by the sound of the doorbell ringing. He groans at the noise and turns to his side, meaning to bury under the blankets and go back to sleep, but he stops when his vision clears and he realizes that he’s not in his own bed, in his own room. Baekhyun stiffens as he registers a body next to him, brows furrowing as he winces at his throbbing headache and furiously tries to recall if he went to a bar and hooked up with someone.

Then the body rolls over, and the previous day’s events come back to Baekhyun as he recognizes Jongdae’s burgundy hair. The memories of getting drunk and snuggling up to Jongdae assault his mind, and Baekhyun blushes as he sits up, wondering how they ended up in Jongdae’s bed together. The motion shifts the blankets and belatedly, he realizes that in his sleep he managed to hog all of the covers.

The doorbell rings again, and this time Jongdae does end up cracking an eyelid open, not even attempting to hide his disdain. “Who dares to come for me at ass o’clock in the morning.”

Baekhyun means to tell Jongdae that he doesn’t know, and then politely inquire about the previous night’s events, but then he gets a thought about how attractive Jongdae’s messy hair makes him look, and what tumbles out of his mouth instead when he turns to address the other is, “Why am I wearing your shirt?”

When Jongdae pauses, Baekhyun laments his lack of a mouth filter and wonders if it’s possible to cringe himself to death. _Nice going, brain._

It’s true, though. His own clothes are neatly folded over a chair next to the bed, even though Jongdae’s bedroom is just as messy as the rest of his apartment. Baekhyun doesn’t know who’s pajamas he’s wearing, but he has enough common sense to make an educated guess. The pants are cute, at least. Baekhyun likes the dinosaur print.

Sensing Baekhyun’s discomfort, Jongdae just pulls himself up into a sitting position and waves Baekhyun off with a laugh, stretching his arms and rolling his head in circles to get rid of tension in his neck. “I wasn’t about to let you fall asleep wearing jeans. I did that enough in my freshman year to know how much it sucks. Also,” Jongdae continues, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand and looking somewhat concerned, “You didn’t tell me that you were such a lightweight. I wouldn’t have let you drink that much alcohol if you did. Are you feeling okay?”

Baekhyun actually isn’t, but he doesn’t want Jongdae to worry himself over nothing. He doesn’t even try to argue about his apparent lightweightness; he’s too busy alternating between staring at Jongdae and the bed, still trying to make sense of the situation. “I think?” He wants to ask who undressed him, but he’s not sure of the best way to do so without making the situation awkward.

“Oh,” Jongdae says, reading Baekhyun’s mind. “You’re wondering why you’re in my bed. Well, it was kind of your fault. After I made you change into more comfortable clothes and use that toothbrush I bought at the store, because I might as well make use of it, right, _anyway_. When I offered you my bed to sleep - yes, despite the bet we made because I am just THAT GOOD of a human being - but my point, you just pushed me down and cuddled up to me, saying I was warm or something. And then you whined when I tried to move away. It was kind of cute, actually. You were like a puppy.” Baekhyun’s noticed that Jongdae has a habit of ranting when he gets nervous. It’s endearing.

Jongdae’s words click in his mind, though, and color creeps up Baekhyun’s neck as mortification floods his senses. “Oh, god. I’m so sorry.” He doesn’t even know what to say after Jongdae helped him so much yesterday. Silently, he thinks that maybe he should never drink again.

To his credit, Jongdae doesn’t make the situation worse, instead opting for a shrug and a soft smile. “Hey, it’s alright. No worries.” A cheeky glint appears in his eyes and he smirks. “Did you know that you’re a good snuggler?”

Before Baekhyun can smack him with a pillow, the doorbell rings for the third time, reminding Baekhyun of the situation at hand. Instantly, Jongdae’s friendly demeanor shifts into a scowl. “Who the fuck could that even be? It’s only eight in the morning!”

“It's probably the campus police coming to take us into custody. I'm so sorry, Jongdae,” Baekhyun moans as he flops down and hides his face in a pillow. “Now we're both going to be arrested and put in jail to rot forever.”

“Calm down, Baekhyun. It'll be fine,” Jongdae tells him, rolling his eyes as he pulls himself out of bed and makes to leave the room. The statement sounds eerily family to Baekhyun’s ears, and he wonders when Jongdae got in such a habit of making him feel better. “You can stay here. I’m just going to see what they want.”

Baekhyun nods and waits - for a solid two seconds. He doesn’t mean to follow Jongdae, but the curiosity ends up being too much for him as he creeps out of the bedroom and peeks around the wall to see the situation play out. From the way that Jongdae rolls his eyes after checking to see who’s at the door through the peephole, Baekhyun figures it really is the campus police. He braces himself for the disaster that is about to follow as Jongdae reaches for the doorknob.

“Again?” An officer uniform asks as soon as Jongdae opens up the front door. “Really, Jongdae?” Baekhyun gulps. If the officer already knows Jongdae’s name, that can’t be good.

Jongdae takes a defensive stance immediately, leaning back against his door and crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes, really. What are you going to do about it, Junmyeon?” There’s a tag pinned to the officer’s uniform, but it clearly reads _Officer Kim._ If Jongdae already knows him, then that’s even _worse._ Baekhyun’s fingers are itching to reach his cell phone so that he can quickly Google if Jongdae is a hardened criminal, or something.

Baekhyun’s gaze darts discreetly back and forth between the two men standing at the doorway, trying to decide their relationship and how Jongdae could know the officer. “Jongdae,” Junmyeon sighs. “I can't keep covering for you.”

“I promise that I had a really good reason for doing it,” Jongdae says, though he doesn’t seem to care whether the other actually believes him or not. He seems to know for sure that he won’t get turned in. Baekhyun is touched at Jongdae’s unwavering demeanor, but he also isn’t ready to Jongdae to get into trouble for his sake. From the attitude that Jongdae is giving the officer, Baekhyun figures he’s either really stupid or really brave. _Or really protective,_ his brain supplies helpfully, and that’s just _not helping_ his array of feelings.

Junmyeon sighs again, his broad shoulders slumping. When he looks up again, he spies Baekhyun, _wearing Jongdae’s pants_ , making his eyebrows go up into his hairline. “Hi there, Jongdae’s Good Reason.”

At this, Jongdae turns around to see what Junmyeon is talking about, and he spots Baekhyun before he can pretend like he wasn’t eavesdropping. When he sees Baekhyun’s nervous wave and his apprehensive expression, his expression softens into a smile. Jongdae nudges the officer with his elbow, “Junmyeon, you’re scaring him.”

Junmyeon takes note of the way that Jongdae’s eyes sparkle when he’s looking at Baekhyun. “God, Dae. You and your bleeding heart.” He clears his throat and turns back to Jongdae, resuming his professionalism. “Well, the guy who reported the car did kind of seem like an asshole. I don’t exactly have a hard time believing you.”

“Exactly,” says Jongdae, seemingly satisfied that the matter is settled. There’s a slight quirk to Junmyeon’s lips that makes Baekhyun think that somehow, he’s not too upset about the outcome either.

“I guess it’s too bad that I wasn’t able to find the student who put bologna slices all over his car,” Junmyeon finishes loudly, shocking Baekhyun into the next century.

Jongdae grins at him, stepping aside from the door to let Junmyeon in. “Guess so. Well, don’t just stand out there.”

“I can’t,” Junmyeon says immediately, expression twisted as though it pains him to refuse Jongdae’s invitation to come in. Baekhyun’s uneasiness returns as he watches Jongdae’s eyes narrow.

“Why the hell not?” Jongdae demands, sounding like a toddler being told no. “You already came all this way.”

“I have to report back. They need me for something else.”

Baekhyun sees Jongdae’s hand spasm on the handle of the door and thinks that Junmyeon’s lucky not to have gotten the door slammed in his face. To his surprise, Jongdae finally drops the tough act just as Baekhyun thinks he can’t have any more surprises for the day or he’ll die.

“I can’t believe you,” he pouts loudly, tugging on Junmyeon’s hand. “Junmyeon, I never even see you anymore! I'm telling Mom that you've abandoned me and Jongin.”

“I know, I know!” Jongdae’s brother says hurriedly, his free hand reaching to silence the buzzing phone in his back pocket. He regretfully informs Jongdae of the alarm that signals that his time is up as he detaches Jongdae’s fingers from his person. “Don’t tell Mom. As soon as your classes end I promise I’ll drop by, okay?” He briefly hugs Jongdae with one arm and turns to go, heading back towards the stairwell. “Tell Jongin I said hi!” Junmyeon calls as he leaves.

“Maybe he would still be talking to you if you weren’t such a stick in the mud,” Jongdae yells after him, likely waking up anyone who wasn’t already up, but his voice carries a fond tone to it. He shuts the door and turns around to lean against it, closing his eyes for a moment to catch his breath after all the excitement. “Guess who didn’t end up getting arrested after all?” he sing-songs to Baekhyun a second later.

“Your brother is part of the campus police, and you still risked getting pinned with the blame for me?” Baekhyun asks, stunned. “How did you know they would send him to interrogate you?”

“I didn’t,” Jongdae answers cheerfully, walking back towards Baekhyun and almost tripping over a shoe lying in the middle of the floor. “But I would have done it anyway. Cheaters deserve bologna cars.”  

“I- Well. I don’t know what to say. Thank you. I meant it. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me,” Baekhyun says sincerely, feeling a surge of affection well up in his chest, until Jongdae kills it by asking him if he wants to leave now.

“I mean, if you don’t want to go yet that’s fine too,” he rushes out quickly, seeing the kicked puppy expression that sweeps over Baekhyun’s features. “I didn’t mean it like I wanted you to go. I was just saying that it’s… an option. If you wanted to go now. I don’t want to keep you longer than you wanted to stay.”

Truthfully, Baekhyun doesn’t want to go. He would much rather stay with Jongdae and get to know him better, and the sudden unsure, shy look that Jongdae gives him tells him that Jongdae would probably like this option more as well. But having Real Life punch him in the face makes him remember that he has a life, friends to report to (Chanyeol and Kyungsoo probably spammed his phone with messages when he didn’t return to his apartment last night, Baekhyun recognizes with a start), and lots of assignments to complete, and that Jongdae probably does as well. Baekhyun tells Jongdae that he doesn’t want to burden him any more than he already has.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Jongdae says reassuringly, perking up as some of the playfulness returns to his eyes. “It was really fun. We can hang out some other time, if you want?”

“I’d like that very much,” Baekhyun tells him. “We make a good pair of troublemakers, right? Like partners in crime.” And looking at Jongdae’s answering smile - his eyes crinkled into crescents and perfect white teeth blinding - makes Baekhyun realize in some sort of post-drunken haze that for the first time since his breakup, the memory of his ex no longer hurts him.

\---

(Epilogue - 3 months later)

“Oh hey, it’s you guys again!” Luhan exclaims from behind his cash register.

“Yah,” Jongdae says happily, wrapping one arm around Baekhyun’s waist and excitedly gesturing to all the food they’ve picked up. “You remember us? We’re having a daytime picnic this time!” He declines to mention how their _midnight picnic_ from last time never took place (at not until a month later, at least  - but at that point all of the food from the first trip to the store had been finished, so it didn’t count).

“You guys are so cute together,” Luhan sighs admiringly. “My boyfriend always eats all the food in the fridge while I’m not home.”

Baekhyun can’t help it; he snorts. Jongdae laughs and shushes him - only making him dissolve further into snickers - then explains to Luhan, “Funny you should say that. Baekhyun here did the exact same thing yesterday. I regret the day I asked him to move into my apartment.”

Luhan smiles and shakes his head in mock sadness. “There’s no one out there who takes care of guys like us.”

“Hey,” Baekhyun giggles, subtly shifting closer to Jongdae. “Don’t flirt with my boyfriend.”

Luhan laughs, too. “No worries, he’s all yours. Besides, I would never - I have my own Minseokkie at home.”

“Oh!” Baekhyun’s eyes light up. “Minseok? He was my resident adviser during my freshman year! And then he went to study abroad in China for a bit.” Then he realizes something else. “Oh! You’re the Chinese guy he told me about!”

“Yes!” Luhan seems delighted, and Baekhyun thinks that the world really is small. “Minseok was my roommate back in China. He helped me out so much when I was struggling to make things work, so I helped him improve his Mandarin. And now I’m here in Korea with him working whatever jobs I can find to help him cover the cost of medical school.”

The hearts in Luhan’s eyes are threatening to overflow, and at one time Baekhyun might have complained about the grossness, but he’s since found someone that makes him look the same way (or so Chanyeol used to tell him whenever he walked into Baekhyun’s room without knocking to find him and Jongdae curled up together in the center of his bed watching horror movies - Baekhyun only watched them so he’d have the excuse to hold Jongdae’s hand. Chanyeol would always run out of the room screaming about his poor eyes and the disgustingness of their domesticity).

“Love makes you do things for your partner that you think you wouldn’t do for yourself, you know?” Luhan muses. “Like, I think I would be willing to get arrested for Minseok.”

“Tell me about it,” Jongdae murmurs, threading his fingers together with Baekhyun’s below the counter where Luhan can’t see.

As Luhan continues rambling on about the love of his life, Jongdae leans over to kiss Baekhyun, who closes his eyes and smiles against Jongdae's mouth. It’s just a simple, gentle press of lips, but it makes Baekhyun’s heartbeat speed up and his heart surge with so much adoration that he’s afraid it may burst - even after sharing so many other kisses with Jongdae, the feeling of falling head over heels for the other boy will never get old. It’s this feeling that always makes Baekhyun decide that in the end, perhaps every once in awhile, Chanyeol’s ideas aren't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> (let's be friends on [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/wistfullywishes)! ♡)


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